Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 340 The Huge Butterfly Effect

Upon learning that his wife and children had been sent over, Lu Jin hurriedly took his guards and carriages to pick them up, including a battalion of cavalry and more than twenty carriages.

Not only Lu Jin's wife and children were brought over this time, but also Zhang Wen's wife Qin Shumin, and Zhu Shou's wife Wang Jingtong, who is also Wang Dayuan's daughter. This marriage was also introduced to them by Lu Jin before.

There were also a large number of female relatives who stayed in Hezhou, such as the wives and children of Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong, the families of Zhu Liangzu and Guo Zixing, etc., who were also brought here this time.

When they arrived at the dock in Jiankang, Zhang Wen was already waiting there. When he saw Lu Jin leading a team to pick them up, he hurried over to greet them.

"Commander."

"Well, everything is fine, right?" Lu Jin rode forward and asked.

Zhang Wen immediately smiled and said, "No, the women were very happy to hear that we have won victory after victory in Jiangnan, but they are a little worried about the men on the front line. Oh, by the way, the Marshal's car has also been transported here. I think there seems to be no problem. It is now on the ship."

Zhang Wen turned around and nodded towards the ship. Lu Jin understood and looked over. He saw Zhang Yunxiu standing on the shore holding a baby in her arms, and coming towards them surrounded by several maids.

Zhang Wen added, "My sister misses you so much, and she's always thinking about you. And my nephew, when he was one month old, we were crossing the river, and we didn't even have wine for him. Now it's going to be a hundred days in a few days, so you have to make up for it."

"Hahaha, you're craving for wine, right? Well, you don't have to wait for a hundred days. I'll host a banquet for you tomorrow." Lu Jin smiled when he saw his wife and children coming over.

Zhang Wen frowned and asked in confusion, "My nephew was born on July 94th. Today is the first day of the winter month, so it has been days. It is not far from the th day. Why are you in such a hurry? Can't you wait until the th day to hold the wedding banquet?"

Lu Jin suddenly said with a serious expression, "The East China Front Army will march eastward on the 15th of this month. There will be hundreds of thousands of troops going out, and the preparations are complicated, so we must prepare in advance. Otherwise, when the day comes, your troops have not assembled yet, so what's the point of fighting?

"So I'll only give you four days to spend with your wives. On the fifth of this month, you will start to lead your troops to the front line. The first army will gather in Danyang, and the second army will gather in Lishui. Don't wait until the time comes to set out from Jiankang."

Zhang Wen said helplessly, "Okay, but aren't our two artillery regiments still in Jiangbei?"

Lu Jin immediately said, "I will transfer them back before the 15th, so they won't delay your expedition."

Zhang Wen nodded, "I understand."

At this moment, Zhang Yunxiu also came over with the child in her arms, "Husband."

Lu Jin immediately went over and hugged the mother and son in his arms, "You've gained weight, and your face is more beautiful than before."

Zhang Yunxiu joyfully held the child in her arms in front of Lu Jin. The baby in the cradle had thick black hair, eyelashes as long as two small fans, and chubby cheeks. He was staring at his father curiously with a pair of black eyes, and did not cry or make a fuss. He was very lovable.

"Tan'er may have eaten it. He has grown to 15 kilograms in just three months, and his face is rounder than before."

Hearing this, Lu Jin immediately knew that Zhang Yunxiu had misunderstood, and quickly laughed, "Hey, hey, I didn't say the child, I was talking about you."

Zhang Yunxiu suddenly reacted, her face turned red, she carefully looked at the people around her, and then glared at Lu Jin.

Lu Jin then let go of the mother and son, took off his cloak and tied it on Zhang Yunxiu, and then said seriously, "The palace in the city has been prepared for you a long time ago. Let's go into the city first. It's windy on the dock, don't catch a cold outside. Go back and settle down today. We will hold a hundred-day banquet for the child tomorrow night."

Zhang Yunxiu looked at Lu Jin in confusion, "Are we going to hold a hundred-day banquet tomorrow?"

"Well, go home first. I'll tell you when I get home in the evening."

"it is good."

After getting all the women on the carriage, Lu Jin told the driver to drive slowly as there was a pregnant woman on board, and then he personally escorted them back to the city with his guards. Zhang Wen continued to stay at the dock. He had to wait until after the evening curfew before he could personally deliver Lu Jin's carriage back to the palace.

After returning to the city, he asked Shuntian Prefecture Governor Ji Xuan to settle these people, and then Lu Jin went back without stopping to make military arrangements.

The first day of November was also called the winter month in ancient times, and December was called the twelfth month. Zhu Liangzu's battle report was also delivered on this day.

They captured Huai'an on October 27th, and sent a detachment to attack Qinghe County, and then immediately sent a battle report back to Lu Jin. Only now did they receive the exact news that Qinghe County had been captured by a detachment led by Liao Yongzhong himself, and the Jiangbei Campaign officially ended.

The eastern detachment led by Zhao Zhongzhong had also arrived in Huai'an to meet up with Zhu Liangzu, and he also brought back more than 30,000 troops, including nearly 20,000 new rebel recruits, including more than 10,000 soldiers led by Zhang Shicheng, and nearly 10,000 prisoners.

The good news is that Zhu Liangzu on the Huai'an front is no longer short of soldiers. The bad news is that most of these newly recruited troops are rookies, and they don't even have complete weapons and armor. After they stop Tuotuo, they will have to undergo a thorough reorganization.

When Lu Jin returned to the Marshal's Mansion, he immediately read Zhu Liangzu's battle report carefully. It first reported the casualties. There were about 2,000 casualties in the Jiangbei battle. Of course, most of them were wounded and stayed in the rear cities such as Yangzhou and Gaoyou to recuperate. Those temporary captives and the casualties of the rebels were not counted.
He also said that they have expanded a large number of temporary troops. There is a salt merchant named Zhang Jiusi in Baijumachang who led several brothers to recruit more than 108 soldiers. This man knows Lu Zhen of the th Division. He "spent all his family wealth" to recruit soldiers, hoping to get the position of commander-in-chief. He asked Lu Jin how to deal with it.

94, 95, 96, 97, plus Baijuchang, these key words are put together, Lu Jin saw that, oh wow, this is Zhang Shicheng, he actually came to his army to eat.
Actually, it is quite normal, because the butterfly effect caused by Lu Jin's time travel has changed the original history beyond recognition.

According to the original history, Guo Zixing started the rebellion in Haozhou around February 1352. As a result, Lu Jin emerged as a rising star in Luzhou in advance and started attacking Dingyuan and Haozhou in October 51. He swallowed up Guo Zixing's territory before his rebellion. Guo Zixing had no chance to start his own rebellion and was taken under Lu Jin's command.

The same thing happened during the attack on Jiangbei. According to the original historical trajectory, Zhang Shicheng started the uprising in Yancheng around March 1353, but was intercepted by Lu Jin five months in advance. In October of 52, the entire Huaiyang region was basically conquered. Now Zhang Shicheng had no chance to grow and could only join Lu Jin's army.

To be honest, these changes are relatively small. The biggest difference from the original historical time node is actually the time when Lu Jin crossed the river.

Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the river in May 1355, while Lu Jin did so in September 5, nearly three years earlier. He also intercepted Zhang Shicheng, the biggest variable, and occupied the entire Yangzhou Road, Gaoyou and Huai'an. Now no one in the north of the Yangtze River would cross the river to compete with him for the Taihu Plain in eastern Zhejiang. As long as Lu Jin made steady progress, he could swallow up the entire fertile land of the Taihu Plain.

If we continue to deduce in this way, we will suddenly discover that compared with the original history, there will be a shocking reversal of power between the Yuan Army and the Red Turban Army.

It is difficult to deduce what will happen next as the time is too long, but in the short term, events that are completely different from the original historical course will occur.

First of all, without Zhang Shicheng disrupting the situation in Jiangnan, Lu Jin can completely swallow up the Three Wus, and the internal strife between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng in the original history will not happen. The two sides' 100,000 or 200,000 troops fought each other in Jiangnan, wasting so many lives and food in vain. Now that there is no internal strife, they can unite against external enemies. The rebel army will show stronger combat effectiveness, and many people will die less.

Secondly, in this time and space, it is very likely that there will be no more incidents of Tuotuo's "million-strong army" besieging Gaoyou. Although he certainly did not have a million-strong army, the number of soldiers and civilians combined might be only over 300,000. Although this 300,000-strong army is still not a small number, there is one thing that needs to be made clear.

These are more than 300,000 people, not machines. People need food! So the question is, where did Tuotuo get so much military food to feed more than 300,000 people in the original history? The answer is Jiangnan.
According to the original history, after Xu Shouhui's eastern expedition army was defeated in Hangzhou, the Yuan army led by Dong Tuanxiao burned Hangzhou to the ground. Afterwards, the Yuan court appointed a new provincial governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang named Qing Tong. After arriving in Hangzhou, he led the people to rebuild the city of Hangzhou with work instead of relief. Then he stayed in Hangzhou and actively plundered money and grain from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and sent them to Tuotuo as military supplies.

During the siege of Gaoyou by Tuotuo's "million-strong army", all the military rations were delivered to him by Qingtong from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Otherwise, do you expect Dadu, who still needs to eat the food from Jiangnan, to be able to provide Tuotuo with more than 300,000 troops by itself? What a joke, it is already very difficult for the people of Dadu to not starve to death.
Then the next step is easy to deduce. The Jianghuai grain transportation channel is now occupied by Lu Jin, and then the entire eastern Zhejiang is occupied. Where can Tuotuo get so much food to feed hundreds of thousands of troops?

Therefore, as long as the entire eastern Zhejiang is captured, Tuotuo's "million-strong army" in history will collapse on its own, and there will be nothing to be afraid of.

Thinking of this, Lu Jin suddenly discovered another problem. Once he occupied the entire eastern Zhejiang, plus the Huaiyang that was swallowed up in this battle in the north of the Yangtze River, it was equivalent to the Yuan court directly losing the salt tax in the two Huai regions and the grain in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the Yuan court's fiscal revenue would plummet.

Without the grain from Jiangnan and the salt tax from Jianghuai, the Yuan court's only remaining fiscal revenue comes from printing money and salt taxes from some salt fields in Hebei.

To be honest, it would be better to have nothing. Continuing to print money will only lead to more serious inflation. As for the remaining salt tax, the Yuan court will probably raise the price of salt desperately in order to raise money. In the future, the price of salt in Hebei will probably be sky-high. Coupled with the inflation caused by the excessive issuance of paper money, the tragic situation is simply unbearable to watch. It is estimated that there will be a situation where you can't buy half a pound of salt with 10,000 strings of treasure notes.
If this trend continues, the Yuan Dynasty is likely to collapse faster than in history!

So how did the Yuan Dynasty persist for so many years after Toghto's death and fight back and forth with Liu Futong's Northern Expedition? The answer is still Zhang Shicheng and Zhejiang East.

After Zhang Shicheng was recruited by the Yuan court, although he obeyed orders but refused to obey orders, he kept supplying grain from the south of the Yangtze River to the Small Iron Pot. Although the amount was not much, it was still tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of shi every year, which was enough to support the Yuan court, which was in a precarious situation.

But in this time and space, the salt tax in Jianghuai, the grain in Jiangnan, and the internal strife between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng all disappeared in an instant.

Lu Jin suddenly covered his face with his hands and rubbed them vigorously, because he thought of another consequence. If Yuan Ting died suddenly and died too quickly, while he and Xu Shouhui were still fighting in Hunan, Liu Futong went north to steal the chicken and successfully occupied Dadu. What would happen in Dadu to help Han Liner ascend the throne and become emperor? Another Northern and Southern Dynasties? No, no, no, the Northern and Southern Dynasties were too ridiculous. This must not happen. I have to think of a way to capture Dadu before Liu Futong. The great achievement of the Northern Expedition to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun must not be snatched away by Liu Futong!

Lu Jin was leaning his elbows on the table, covering his face with his hands and closing his eyes in deep thought, deducing the future trend of the world. Just at this moment, Feng Guoyong and the new arrival Xia Yu walked in. They were about to ask Lu Jin about his arrangements for Jiangbei, but they saw this scene as soon as they entered the room.

Feng Guoyong immediately asked with concern, "Marshal? Are you tired these days? Or did you just bring your wife and son here and want to go back home earlier? If you are tired, why not go back home and rest earlier?"

Lu Jin immediately raised his head and looked at the two of them, "No, I'm thinking about something. Since you two are well versed in military strategy, I want to ask you a question."

Xia Yu quickly bowed and pretended to listen. This newcomer wanted to perform well.

"My lord, please speak."

"What do you think the Yuan court's fiscal revenue is?"

"This, printing banknotes, salt taxes in Hebei and Jianghuai, and grain in Jiangnan?" Xia Yu said tentatively.

Lu Jin nodded, "But now that we have conquered Jianghuai, the Yuan court's salt tax is mostly from the Changlu Salt Field in Hebei, and salt production in other places is not on a large scale. Then when we conquer eastern Zhejiang and cut off the grain supply to Dadu, the Yuan court's fiscal revenue will plummet.

"The rest was used to print banknotes, but as you know, if paper money is not backed by real objects, it is not printing money at all, but making poison. In the end, only the Changlu Salt Field was left, but is the income from such a salt field enough to support a country?

"You say, if the Yuan court loses its financial income and suffers another great defeat, will it suddenly collapse and die? By that time, I'm afraid we haven't unified the south yet. What if Liu Futong marches north from the Central Plains and helps Han Liner ascend the throne in Dadu?"

Xia Yu and Feng Guoyong were both stunned, then looked at each other and saw panic in each other's eyes, because the hypothesis deduced by Lu Jin might really happen.

"We must not let Liu Futong take away the credit for the Northern Expedition!"

"Yes, there cannot be another Northern and Southern Dynasties!"

The two of them spoke one by one.

Are you kidding? How much political influence would a Northern Dynasty have if it successfully launched a northern expedition to drive out the Tartars and recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that had been lost for hundreds of years?
Why did people later say that Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty was the most legitimate? It was because of this reason.

If Liu Futong and Han Liner were to grab the title of "the most righteous one to gain the throne", it would definitely be a huge obstacle for Lu Jin to unify the world in the future.

Seeing the two's reaction, Lu Jin comforted them instead, "It's still early. Even if we really capture eastern Zhejiang, the Yuan court won't fall so quickly. It will have to go through a few major defeats and use up the last bit of its wealth before the Yuan court will completely collapse.

"Even if they can't hold on in Dadu, they won't die immediately. Instead, they may retreat to Shangdu grassland and continue to remotely command the Yuan army inside the pass to encircle and suppress us. Don't forget that the grassland is the hometown of those Tartars, so we still have time to plan and prepare."

The two calmed down after hearing this. Xia Yu analyzed the possibility of what Lu Jin said and then spoke.

"My lord, don't worry. Although Liu Futong is to our north, they are only staying south of the Yellow River. We have also reached Huai'an on the Yellow River in the north. Both sides are now on the same line. As long as the lord's army on the northern line swallows up Qi and Lu, they will be at the capital of Hebei.

"And if Liu Futong of the Central Plains wants to march north to attack Dadu, he has to conquer Qin and Jin first. The Three Jins are surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the Taihang Mountains overlook Dadu. In addition, the population of Qin and Jin is not small, and the military strength is strong. If Liu Futong ignores the Yuan army in Qin and Jin and heads straight for Dadu, the Qin and Jin Yuan army can cut off their retreat and food supply and annihilate them on the Hebei Plain. So even if they want to march north, it won't be that easy.

"In comparison, we are actually closer to Dadu. After we fight northwards to Dezhou in Qi and Lu, we will be less than 300 miles away from Dadu. By then, the Yuan Lord might really flee to Shangdu. We can take advantage of the situation to capture Dadu and drive the Tartars north of Yanshan Mountain."

After listening to him, Lu Jin glanced at him and said, "Send Toghan Timur back to the grassland? No, I don't want to keep him on the grassland to disgust me. It's better to keep him inside the pass to avoid trouble in the future."

Xia Yu was stunned when he heard this, "Leave Emperor Yuan inside the pass? That's not easy."

Lu Jin waved his hand and said seriously, "It's too early to talk about this now. I'm talking about this today, so you should be alert, but don't be too hasty. Let's first swallow up Huaiyang and Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

"Come on, let's arrange the adjustments for the Jiangbei team."

"Yes." The two of them immediately bowed in agreement.

Lu Jin then handed Zhu Liangzu's battle report to the two of them, and then made arrangements one by one, asking the two to draft military orders.

Zhu Liangzu urged in the battle report to quickly send Yu Tongyuan's artillery regiment over so that he could take back Yang Huan and Qin Zhao's two artillery regiments to avoid delaying the subsequent Eastern Expedition.

Lu Jin made arrangements and asked someone to ask Yu Tongyuan about the progress of the modification of the artillery regiment and urged them to speed up.

Then, as for the two artillery regiments in the north of the Yangtze River, Yang Huan followed Zhu Liangzu on the Huai'an front line, so he could stay put for the time being. Qin Zhao's regiment followed Bian Yuanheng to Gaoyou, and there was a mountain artillery battalion that stayed with Yu Tonghai in Tongzhou (Nantong). So Lu Jin issued an order, asking Qin Zhao to stop the three artillery battalions in Gaoyou, cross the river and return to Zhenjiang to wait, and the mountain artillery battalion in Tongzhou would stay with Yu Tonghai and wait for the Eastern Expedition to begin, and then follow the 40th Army to cross the river and head south.

Zhu Liangzu then said in the battle report that he planned to build a pontoon bridge over the Huai River to actively attract a part of Tuotuo's troops, then lure the enemy to cross the river, and then attack them halfway across the river, looking for an opportunity to annihilate a part of the Yuan army under Tuotuo's command.

Lu Jin approved his battle plan, but told him not to cross the river and advance north rashly, especially to protect Zheng Yong's Second Cavalry Regiment and not to allow the cavalry to suffer heavy casualties. He just needed to hold his current territory.

If Zhima Li from Xuzhou asked him for help, he could not send a single soldier without the order from the commander-in-chief. If he wanted help, he should send someone to Jiankang to talk to him.

Then Zhu Liangzu mentioned Zhang Shicheng in the battle report. This man knew Lu Zhen and recruited more than 10,000 soldiers to join him. His implication was that he wanted to be a commander-in-chief. He asked Lu Jin how to arrange it for him and what he should do if he was not given the position of commander-in-chief.

Lu Jin approved that Zhang Shicheng could be promised a commander-in-chief, but the rules could not be changed. He had to send his family, wife and children to Jiankang. Moreover, the more than 10,000 troops recruited by Zhang Shicheng himself could be organized into three regiments, but these three regiments could not be allowed to form a division. They had to be mixed with other troops to avoid the formation of large factions within the army. In particular, those rebels who came later were not loyal enough and could be used, but had to be guarded against.

Finally, Zhu Liangzu said that his troops were in a mess, with various main regiments, supplementary regiments, reserve regiments, independent regiments, as well as many volunteers and prisoners who did not even have temporary organization. He asked Lu Jin when he would start the reorganization and if so, how it should be organized.

Lu Jin approved that Zhu Liangzu should temporarily reorganize the existing troops in Jiangbei with temporary numbers to see how many regiments there are. In addition, the main force should not be split up for the time being. After Tuotuo is defeated or the war is stabilized, the Marshal's Office will send a commissioner to preside over the reorganization.

After Feng Guoyong finished drafting the military order, Lu Jin said to him, "When the Jiangbei Corps is reorganized in a while, you will personally represent me to preside over the reorganization. When the time comes, compile it first, then bring the list over, and then issue them the official appointment."

Feng Guoyong said quickly, "I will do my best."

Lu Jin nodded, and then said to the two, "Mr. Feng, please translate the military order into ciphertext and send it out first, then ask about the progress of Yu Tongyuan's artillery regiment modification and urge them.

"Yunzhong, go and pass the order for me to call Commander Liao Yongjian of the 107th Division and Commander Chang Yuchun of the 109th Division over. I want to assign combat missions to them."

"Yes."

Xia Yu immediately bowed his hand in agreement. Feng Guoyong, who was about to leave, asked hurriedly, "The Marshal wants to attack Taiping Road and Chizhou Road now?"

Lu Jin nodded, "Chang Yuchun is such a good fighter, but I didn't include him in the Eastern Expedition Army, because I wanted him to lead the army alone and fight in the south. The war in Jiangbei is over now. Even if Tuotuo attacks, Zhu Liangzu will stop him. The East China Front Army is also about to go out, so there is no need to keep Chang Yuchun at home.

“Besides, Wuhu also belongs to Taiping Road and should have been taken down long ago. It is impossible to keep it for the Yuan court. Otherwise, after a long time, these riverside docks and cities may be used by the Yuan army navy in Jiangxi. We should fight quickly and take these places as soon as possible.

"There are iron mines on Taiping Road, coal mines on Ningguo Road, and Tongling on Chizhou Road. Without copper and iron mines, how can we forge weapons and coins?"

"I understand." Feng Guoyong then bowed and said yes.

"Everyone go back to your own business. Hurry up and call Chang Yuchun and Liao Yongjian over."

"Yes." The two of them immediately took their leave.

(End of this chapter)